New model Mazda5 - not immune from suspension problems

[Bodgerx]

Since I bought my Mazda 5 last year (it was 2.5 years old with 20k miles) all has not been well with the suspension.

So far, I have been back 6 times to the dealer.

Symptoumns have been creaking and rattling from the front end under accelaration and when the engine starts up after an istop auto-stop.

Initially the dealer told me to come back after it gets worse, but after a few months I got fed up and insisted on a fix.

First job was to replace the front roll bar bushings. This has partially resolved it (engine start up) but after that the creaking got worse. I also now have the right side of the car squeaking like an old bed spring.

Last trip to the dealer resulted in a diagnosis of a bad suspension strut. They haven't commented on the squeaking, so I assume that is a puzzle to them.

What is annoying about all these trips to the main dealer is that they never seem to have any parts in stock. It took weeks to get the bushings and I am now waiting for them to come up with a suspension strut. How come my local Indy can get parts the same day, but the actual MAZDA dealer takes weeks? Bizarre.

Anyone else with a gen 2 Mazda5 with persistent suspension trouble?

 

[Vasy]

Not yet. Tight as a drum, but then again, we don't get iStop on this side of the pond.

 

[thaxman]

You local indy can get parts from suppliers all over town stocking aftermarket parts. They keep them in stock b/c they do business with all the mechanics in the area. The dealer gets specific parts from a specific supplier that may not even be onshore, esp since this is a 3-continent car. The platform is borrowed from Ford/Volvo and unique parts are all Japanese. Talk about a logistical nightmare.
As for the creaking and rattling. If the bushings were bad, the endlinks could also have taken a dump. The added movement of the bar when the bushings don't hold fast wears the links out pretty quickly.

 

[microvan]

2012 with 25K miles and haven't had any suspension problems.

I do have a lot of creaking/squeaking from the sliding doors during low speed maneuvers. Silicone grease on the weatherstripping quiets it down.

 

[torquelover]

2012 with 25K miles and haven't had any suspension problems.

I do have a lot of creaking/squeaking from the sliding doors during low speed maneuvers. Silicone grease on the weatherstripping quiets it down.

I have this as well, might look into it later. There was a post about using electrical tape on the strikes somewhere. I have some alignment issues and some rear components have more slop/play than ideal. About 50k miles. No squeaking or creaking in the suspension. Just the doors and driver's seat (only when I drive it).

 

[Bodgerx]

You local indy can get parts from suppliers all over town stocking aftermarket parts. They keep them in stock b/c they do business with all the mechanics in the area. The dealer gets specific parts from a specific supplier that may not even be onshore, esp since this is a 3-continent car. The platform is borrowed from Ford/Volvo and unique parts are all Japanese. Talk about a logistical nightmare.
As for the creaking and rattling. If the bushings were bad, the endlinks could also have taken a dump. The added movement of the bar when the bushings don't hold fast wears the links out pretty quickly.

Interesting info, cheers. Yeah, they mentioned they might have to do the end links as well. At the moment they are happy to stick to doing the one strut, it seems.

2012 with 25K miles and haven't had any suspension problems.

I do have a lot of creaking/squeaking from the sliding doors during low speed maneuvers. Silicone grease on the weatherstripping quiets it down.

I went out and bought some lithium grease yesterday and tried this, it didn't solve it.

I have this as well, might look into it later. There was a post about using electrical tape on the strikes somewhere. I have some alignment issues and some rear components have more slop/play than ideal. About 50k miles. No squeaking or creaking in the suspension. Just the doors and driver's seat (only when I drive it).

I did suspect the rear, at one point...but....

After putting grease on the door points/seals and then injecting some into the front/rear ball joints, and that doing nothing, I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

After much experimentation, it seems it is something to do with the A/C.

Basically, if you have the A/C on it squeaks periodically. If its off, it never does it.

After the car is warmed up, if I stop the car and pop the hood and then rev the engine up to about 3.5K and then let it settle to idle there is a loud squeak/chirp. Doing the exact same thing with the A/C off results in no noise...

So, it must be the A/C clutch or a belt or something.

When the car goes in for the strut I'm going to get them to look at it.

Half of me thinks I'm being picky, and a real pain in the butt to the dealer, and the other thinks that the car is a pain in the butt, and they need to get it sorted!

Hey ho.

 

[Bodgerx]

Recorded a video of it in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWocoTPQJSQ

 

[90210]

Bought my 2012 brand new at dealer July, 2011. So basically now 3 years old. Turned 29,000 miles.

As good as the day I drove off the lot. No squeaks, no rattles, no nothing.

No where close to the Lexus in our garage, but way better than the Lotus.

Its a cheap van. Maybe being on Mazda #9, I know where my expectations are

 

[Bodgerx]

Update.

There is good and bad news.

Good news is they looked at the squeaking and are pretty sure it is the air con compressor. Warranty claim has been placed, and they will then wait for the part.

Bad news is that they replaced the suspension strut and happily handed the car over to me. I drove the car off the lot and immediately the car was MAKING THE EXACT SAME CREAKING NOISE. Do mechanics actually do test drives these days to confirm things are fixed? Seriously.

So the up shot is, in less than a year of Mazda ownership, I have been back to the dealer 7 times, had bushing replaced, suspension struts, now an upcoming air conditions compressor replacement plus several attempts at a diagnosis and NOTHING IS ANY DIFFERENT.

Back to Honda for me next time..

 

[Vasy]

Well, if the noise if rom A/C and they have not replaced it, it would not go away.
I'm surprised you had to replace so much, in two years ours needed just oil and gas.

 

[90210]

Dealer mechanics as skilled as they might be (I have good friends for 25+ years at Porsche and Jag dealers), are barely above the scum of the earth that used car salesmen are...

THey happily test drive and put miles on your car..but they never fix anything

 

[Bodgerx]

Well, if the noise if rom A/C and they have not replaced it, it would not go away.
I'm surprised you had to replace so much, in two years ours needed just oil and gas.

The creaking isn't from the air con. It's definitely coming from the suspension. The squeaking is the air con as you can see from my video I linked.

So am I. This is the most I have ever spent on a car as an initial purchase, and the single most problematic. I had 4 trouble free older Hondas before this.

Dealer mechanics as skilled as they might be (I have good friends for 25+ years at Porsche and Jag dealers), are barely above the scum of the earth that used car salesmen are...

THey happily test drive and put miles on your car..but they never fix anything

Agreed.
I dropped the car off with 30miles remaining on the fuel indicator. I drove it off the lot with 0 miles remaining. Thanks MR Mazda dealer!

It seems to me like they will just go around replacing expensive components on a hunch/best guess until the problem goes away rather than actually fully diagnosing something. Trouble is, this is costing me time and energy just going back and forth.

I'm supposed to be driving the family to Italy in a few weeks in this shed, so let's hope it's fixed by then.

 

[Vasy]

It seems to me like they will just go around replacing expensive components on a hunch/best guess until the problem goes away rather than actually fully diagnosing something. Trouble is, this is costing me time and energy just going back and forth.
I'm supposed to be driving the family to Italy in a few weeks in this shed, so let's hope it's fixed by then.

I had hard to diagnose issue once on a different car, dealer agreed to take the care and let the tech drive it for a day or two home and back to work and see what he can find regarding the issue.
This was test drive was longer then 30 seconds and the guy did manage to find the issue.
But probably not every shop would wanna do it for verios reasons.

 

[Bodgerx]

Yeah, this is basically what they have agreed to do now - when the air con part gets delivered, they are basically going to take the car off me for a few days, and not give back until it's done.

Thing is, I find it hard to believe the suspension problem is hard to diagnose, it's...

A. Loud: big creaking noise like an old ship.
B. Reproducible: does it whenever you pull away from standing.

 

[90210]

I had a creaking noise in my seat in the mazda 5.

When you would accelerate you would hear it..as your weight would transfer to seat back.

4 visits, 11 parts, and $1250 warranty bills later, it was fixed. Moron dealers...

 

[JMJinNC]

Similar issue

A. Loud: big creaking noise like an old ship.
B. Reproducible: does it whenever you pull away from standing.

I'll be watching this thread. Our 2012 Sport w/ manual has this issue. Intermittent, but it is either in the suspension or the motor mounts. I've only sunk 1 fruitless trip to the dealer... so far.

BTW - anybody else have warped brake rotors at <30,000 miles? Ours are warped and I'm hoping it will be covered under warranty.

JMJ

 

[Vasy]

BTW - anybody else have warped brake rotors at <30,000 miles? Ours are warped and I'm hoping it will be covered under warranty.
JMJ

No, it brakes very well so far.
The "Warped" Brake Disc and Other Myths of the Braking System

 

[monotone]

Yeah, this is basically what they have agreed to do now - when the air con part gets delivered, they are basically going to take the car off me for a few days, and not give back until it's done.

Thing is, I find it hard to believe the suspension problem is hard to diagnose, it's...

A. Loud: big creaking noise like an old ship.
B. Reproducible: does it whenever you pull away from standing.

Have they looked at the transmission engine mount? I've seen a few threads on this creaking noise. My 5 has it too. Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll have some time to replace the mount myself.

 

[Bodgerx]

Ok, an update.

So there is very good news, and some bad news.

The dealer took the car back for a few days, loaned me an old model Mazda 5 (which was strangely disappointing) and then called me back and said "we have definitely fixed it all".

Went to pick it up, and as soon as I turned the engine on I knew they'd sorted it. After they replaced the bushings last time, when the engine started, there was always this kind of 'thunk' noise like something was freeing itself from being unstuck. This was very annoying, because this car has iStop, so the engine is starting up quite a bit.

I drove the car away, and it was like a different beast - lovely turn in, that beautifully smooth Mazda5 ride quality....and the icing on the cake: no squeaking from the air conditioning pulleys. Fallen back in love with the van. Who would have thought it?

When I asked them what they had done to fix the creaking, they basically said they had replaced no parts, but simply took everything apart (sub frame, suspension arms etc.) re-greased various bits and put it all back together again. Which basically means, after they did the bushings they didn't put it back together again properly. Great!

Now for the bad news. After I got the car back, today I decided the rear tyres were looking pretty old (the sidewalls were very cracked) and as these were the original rears on the car from new (its now over 3.5 years old) I thought I'd take it to the local tyre place for some fresh boots. When I picked the car up, they said, "I'm afraid the tracking is completely out - it really needs doing". So, basically, after the dealer put the front end of the car together, they couldn't be bothered to do the tracking. Thanks Mazda dealer. I've pretty much had it with the dealer. They are more hassle than its worth, so it is back to the local tyre place to get a full laser full wheel alignment in a few days.

Warranty is out next month, and I hope I never step foot in a Mazda dealer again.

 

[JMJinNC]

No, it brakes very well so far.
The "Warped" Brake Disc and Other Myths of the Braking System

Interesting article. I'll look at the disks to see if there are pad deposits.

JMJ